World's Largest Glass Company To Be Built In Batam, Its Value Reaches IDR 175.24 Trillion

Glass illustration (photo: dock. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia said that one of the largest glass producers and solar panels in the world, the Xinyi Group, will build a factory in the Rempang area, Batam.

This can be seen from the Memorandum of Agreement Signing Ceremony Xinyi International Investment Limited and PT Makmur Elok Graha in Chengdu, China, on Friday, July 28, which was witnessed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Bahlil.

Xinyi Group is a leading company in the glass industry and solar panels from China located in the city of Wuhu. Bahlil said the agreement between Indonesia and the Xinyi Group was a souvenir from President Jokowi's visit to Chengdu, China.

"We signed an MoU and a cooperation agreement in building a downstream ecosystem in Rempang, Batam, with an investment plan of 11.6 billion US dollars (Rp175.24 trillion at an exchange rate of Rp15,107 per US dollar)," Bahlil said in his official statement, Saturday, July 29.

Bahlil said that this investment is to build glass and solar panels, and will use around 35 thousand Indonesian workers. "The President's directive is to immediately execute and accelerate, so that the downstream process occurs," he said.

According to Bahlil, the investment plan in Batam is the second project in Indonesia. Previously, the Xinyi Group had made its first phase investment in a large-scale comprehensive glass manufacturing base in the JIIPE (Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate) area in Gresik in 2022 amounting to 700 million US dollars. Production is expected to take place in the middle of next year.

"This (facilitation in Batam) will be the second largest factory in the world after China. If we have succeeded in building a downstream system from nickel, now we are starting to push it into quartz sand. The output of the product is almost 95 percent for exports, because the market is overseas," he said.

Meanwhile, Xinyi Group CEO Lee Yin Yee expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian government for opening up opportunities for collaborating for the development of the country's solar panel industry. He hopes that this cooperation that will be implemented can benefit both parties.

"We are grateful to the Government of Indonesia, especially the relevant ministries that have helped us implement this investment," he explained.

"Previously, the Xinyi Group had invested in Gresik. This time we plan to invest in the development of the photovoltaics industry or solar panels on the island of Rempang and will become the largest comprehensive photovoltaic industrial area in the world," he concluded.